The British adopted one of the three land revenue systems in different parts of the country:

1. Landlord-based system was also known as zamindari system. In the landlord areas, there was a landlord in charge of the revenue collection, and the British administration had no direct dealings with the cultivating peasants. Landlords were in effect given property rights on the land.

Landlord system was established mainly in Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, the Central Provinces (modern Madhya Pradesh state) and some parts of Madras Presidency (modern Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh states).

2. Individual cultivator based system was also known as ryotwari system. In most areas of Madras and Bombay Presidencies and also in Assam, the individual ryotwari system was adopted in which the revenue settlement was made directly with cultivator.

Revenue rates were calculated as the money value of a share of the estimated average annual output.

3. Village-based system was also known as mahalwari system. In the North-west Provinces and Punjab, mahalwari system was adopted in which village bodies that jointly owned the village were responsible for the land revenue.

The present state of Indian agriculture has its roots in the land settlement systems adopted by the government. The tenant farmers are still at the mercy of the landlords who are interested in the development of the agricultural land. Low levels of technology, low productivity and poor plight of the farmers, mark the rural sector till today.